A federal jury on Monday convicted two brothers of running a multimillion-dollar phony identification ring and conspiring to murder a suspected rival in Mexico who they believed was encroaching on their operation in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood.

After a five-week trial, brothers Manuel and Julio Leija-Sanchez, as well as Gerardo Salazar-Rodriguez, the accused hit man, were found guilty on numerous counts, including racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder. All three face mandatory sentences of life in prison.

Federal authorities dismantled the phony ID ring in 2007 with charges against nearly two dozen people in a nationwide scheme that spanned more than a decade and netted nearly $3 million a year. Among those convicted was Ald. Ricardo Munoz's father, Elias, who was sentenced to four years in prison for taking thousands of photos for the fake driver's licenses and green cards.

Prosecutors alleged that Manuel Leija-Sanchez, 45, and brother Julio, 37, took turns heading up the business in the United States with a third brother, Pedro, who pleaded guilty last year. The ring also operated out of Los Angeles, Denver and other cities and was believed to be one of the biggest illegal document fraud operations in the country, prosecutors said.

According to the prosecution, the Leija-Sanchez brothers believed that Guillermo "Montes" Jimenez Flores, a onetime member of their ring, had started a rival fake document business. The two hired Salazar-Rodriguez for $3,000 to kill Flores, who was then driving a cab in Mexico, prosecutors said.

Salazar-Rodriguez tracked Flores down in Mexico and shot him to death in his cab, according to court documents.

Authorities also contended that Salazar-Rodriguez then searched for a second suspected rival and planned to kill him as well. That target, however, was in U.S. custody the entire time.

As part of the investigation, numerous phone calls were secretly recorded, including a graphic description by Salazar-Rodriguez about how he killed Flores. "I let him have the three hollow points," he said. "Boom, boom, boom! And I let him have them all."

Salazar-Rodriguez, 40, took the witness stand to deny his involvement in the murder-for-hire.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Porter dedicated much of his closing argument last week to reminding the jury about the government evidence corroborating Salazar-Rodriguez's role in the slaying, including testimony from several witnesses.

In a reference to Salazar-Rodriguez's repeated denials, Porter made a quip about the recent Oscars show. "I was waiting for best actor in a federal criminal case," he said about the defendant's performance on the stand.

All three men face mandatory life sentences for their convictions for murder in aid of racketeering alone.

No sentencing date was set Monday by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, who presided over the trial.